By Scott M. Johnson and Todd Fredrickson
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Shaun Alexander’s dream season turned nightmarish during the first half of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Alexander, the Seahawks’ 24-year-old fill-in who has had nothing but success in his past two games, got hit with a case of fumble-itis against Miami.
Alexander’s first fumble came when Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas stripped the ball, but it appeared that Alexander was already on the turf when the ball came loose. Even after looking at a replay, the officials ruled that Alexander had fumbled the ball, and Miami took over possession near the end of the first quarter.
On Seattle’s next drive, Alexander coughed it up again, this time when Miami’s Terry Cousin stripped him from behind.
“I’m just trying to play hard,” Alexander said. “That happens sometimes when you’re trying to play hard and people are tugging at you. It’s just a great play by the defense.”
Alexander had his worst NFL game as a starting running back, but that was understandable considering he had rushed for 318 yards in his first two games as the Seahawks’ feature back. On Sunday, the Dolphins held Alexander to 87 yards on 23 carries. And, of course, there were the two fumbles. Alexander has now fumbled the ball four times this season.
“He’s going to carry the ball a lot before he’s finished in this league,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “Obviously, people were trying to rip it out of there. He has to deal with that as a ball carrier. It’s something he’s aware of and concentrates on. The (first) one, I don’t think was a fumble.”
Rookie problems: Alexander was not the only young Seahawk to struggle Sunday.
Rookie cornerback Ken Lucas, who entered the season as a starter but is now used only in nickel and dime situations, gave up two long pass plays during the second half.
Lucas had good position on both passes, but could not make a play on the ball.
Lucas gave up a 43-yard pass to Chris Chambers late in the third quarter, helping to set up a Lamar Smith touchdown. On the play, Lucas ran with Chambers stride-for-stride before falling down at the last moment.
“(The pass) was like it was punted down there,” Lucas said. “That kind of threw me off track, and I was off my balance.”
On Miami’s next drive, Lucas got one hand on a Jay Fiedler pass, but it ricocheted into the arms of Chambers, who went 21 yards. Both plays converted key third downs.
“I feel kind of guilty, because I felt like I let my team down,” Lucas said. “Those were two big plays in the game, where they led to touchdowns. I feel like if I could have made those plays, we could have avoided that.”
Shotgun wedding: For his entire 16 years as an NFL assistant and head coach, Holmgren had never used the shotgun formation before Sunday.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck went into the shotgun nine times, and had relative success with it. During plays run out of the shotgun, Hasselbeck completed 5 of 9 passes for 120 yards. More important, he was not sacked out of the formation.
By comparison, Hasselbeck completed 11 of 19 for 110 yards and was sacked four times while lining up directly behind center Robbie Tobeck.
“This year, with the sacks and the pressure we’ve been getting early enough in the season, I thought, ‘Oh, heck, I’m not so stubborn I won’t use something I think will help the quarterback,’” Holmgren said. “I think he likes it. Robbie Tobeck has used it before. The risks of flipping one over his head or rolling it on the ground are somewhat limited because the guys like it. Now, are we going to use it all the time? No. But we’ll use it when I think we have to.”
Life of a cornerback: Seattle’s Willie Williams felt the glory and wrath of playing cornerback in the NFL on Sunday.
During the first quarter alone, Williams intercepted two passes – the fourth time in his NFL career that he’s had multiple pickoffs in a game. They were Williams’ first two interceptions of the season.
“Right now,” Williams said after the game, “I’m not even thinking about the two picks. I’m thinking about the play I gave up.”
The play Williams gave up was the eventual game-winner, a 39-yard touchdown pass from Fiedler to James McKnight with 6:16 remaining.
“I wish I could take it back, but I can’t,” Williams said. “I just have to move on and focus on the next game.”
Receiving praise: Seattle’s wide receivers may have had their best cumulative day of the season Sunday.
Starters Darrell Jackson and Koren Robinson combined for eight receptions and 161 yards. And Jackson’s 17-yard touchdown catch at the end of the first half marked the first time a Seahawks wideout has gotten into the end zone all year.
Jackson’s most impressive play came on a 64-yard reception in the first quarter. After a short pass over the middle, Jackson got more than 50 yards on his own.
“This game is all about patience,” said Jackson, whose 121 receiving yards marked the second time in his short career that he’s gone over 100 in a game. “Fortunately, I got to make something happen today. On top of that, I had great blocking from the wide receivers. Matt (Hasselbeck) threw a great ball, coach called a great play, and the wide receivers helped me out a lot downfield.”
Robinson’s most impressive catch came on a Hasselbeck pass over the middle for 19 yards. Robinson caught the ball despite taking hits from both Miami safeties to convert a third-and-4.
All’s well that ends well: Miami punt returner Jeff Ogden, a Snohomish native, didn’t exactly have the game of his dreams, but his team’s victory more than made up for it.
Ogden handled two punts and returned them for 11 yards, but he fumbled at the end of the second return, and the turnover seemed to spark the Seahawks after Miami had built a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.
Seattle scored touchdowns on that possession and its next one to take a 14-10 halftime lead, a sequence that might have put Ogden on the spot had not the Dolphins come back to win.
“The whole week I had dreams of all these touchdowns or huge returns and all that stuff,” said Ogden, whose 17.0-yard punt return average last season was a Miami team record. “I guess it didn’t turn out that way for me, but fortunately we have good enough guys around me to take care of it and come out with a victory.”
Ogden, who went from Snohomish High School to Eastern Washington University and then to the Dallas Cowboys as a rookie free agent in 1998, was in a hurry after the game to meet up with friends and family, from whom he expected a healthy dose of abuse over the fumble.
“Oh, I hope so,” he said with a smile. “I think I’m due for a beating.”
Another near miss: Another Dolphin with Northwest ties, wide receiver James McKnight, also came perilously close to goat status when he lost a fumble after a reception at the Miami 46-yard line with 3:34 left in the game and the Dolphins clinging to their 24-20 lead.
Seahawks safety Reggie Tongue picked up the loose ball and returned it to the 23, but Miami’s defense kept Seattle out of the end zone to preserve the victory.
“The defense told everybody, ‘Hey, you’re trying to make plays for our team. You keep doing that. We’re going to go out here and get the ball back.’ And they did,” McKnight said.
That allowed McKnight to retain the hero status he earned for catching a 39-yard touchdown pass with 6:16 that gave Miami its final points.
Quick slants: The Seahawks were held without a sack for the first time this season. … Hasselbeck established career highs in both yards (230) and touchdowns (two) in Sunday’s loss.
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